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Monday, September 27, 2010

My House Shall Be Called a House of Prayer


This video about prayer by Jim Cymbala, the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, is one of those kind of exhortations that we all need to listen to and heed. I cannot stress to you enough, whoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you're going, the importance of listening to this message, inviting the Holy Spirit to humble you as you do. Please take out some time to be changed. Take some time to listen to Christ speak through this pastor. You cannot afford not to.

Note: The synchronization between audio and video on this clip is off. My advice would be to listen rather than watch. You'll be distracted if you watch.



Posted by Sharon Kaufman

My House Shall Be Called a House of Prayer

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Robed in His Unlimited Grace

Being broken and contrite over our sin before a holy God is the only place in creation where a sinner can be robed with the unmerited, unlimited, marvelous grace of God. This is where I have been now for some months and I've never been happier. God continues to put me there - by the Spirit of grace.

So I really understood the following prayer from the Valley of Vision. I found it posted on Tim Challies blog. All my praying, singing, serving, helping, etc. is still tainted with sin. I am always getting in the way and then running back to the throne to obtain yet more grace. This indescribable gift, only possible because of Christ's sacrifice for my sin never wears out, dries up, slows down, gets old, becomes impotent, fades, or diminishes in any other way.

Yes, my sin seems inexhaustible, but God's grace really is inexhaustible. My sin shouts at me but God's grace always has the last say. It's mine because of what Christ  has done. And I am able to grasp it every time I come with a contrite heart, broken before my Heavenly Father.

Here's the prayer from Valley of Vision:

    O God of Grace,

    You have imputed my sin to my substitute, and have imputed his righteousness to my soul, clothing me with a bridegroom’s robe, decking me with jewels of holiness. But in my Christian walk I am still in rags; my best prayers are stained with sin; my penitential tears are so much impurity; my confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin; my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with selfishness.

    I need to repent of my repentance; I need my tears to be washed; I have no robe to bring to cover my sins, no loom to weave my own righteousness; I am always standing clothed in filthy garments, and by grace am always receiving your change of raiment, for you always justify the ungodly; I am always going into the far country, and always returning home as a prodigal, always saying, “Father, forgive me,” and you are always bringing forth the best robe.

    Every morning let me wear it, every evening return in it, go out to the day’s work in it, be married in it, be wound in death in it, stand before the great white throne in it, enter heaven in it shining as the sun.

    Grant me never to lose sight of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the exceeding righteousness of salvation, the exceeding glory of Christ, the exceeding beauty of holiness, the exceeding wonder of grace.

Amen!!!
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Posted by Sharon Kaufman

Robed in His Unlimited Grace

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Christ in My Kitchen

Today I offer a blessing for the kitchen. I found this poem on an old wall hanging at a thrift store. (Oh...the joys of thrifting!) I did edit it a little and added the last few verses. There was no name on the picture to identify its author.

But the poem reminds me why God has ordained the wonderful sphere of the home as the wife's occupation in life. What better place could we be? It is a heavenly and high calling. In the home, specifically the kitchen, godly women do the very work that God Himself has does. God feeds His people. We feed others. This is divine activity!

In the garden, God fed the man and woman He created; in fact, He created their food even before Adam and Eve were created. The LORD fed the children of Israel manna in the dessert. God kept the widow's jug of oil and jar of flour replenished for herself, her son and Elijah the prophet (1 Kings 17) during a time of famine.

During Jesus' earthly ministry He fed the multitudes (the first time there were 5000 men alone, not including women and children). On one of those occasions (John 6:1-14), Jesus used a young boy's five barley loaves and two small fish to feed upwards of 10,000 hungry people.

But besides physical food, God supplies His children with spiritual food. In the 23rd Psalm, our Shepherd leads us and feeds us (Psalm 23:1-2). Jesus told His followers, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).

Nourishing others with physical food from our kitchens opens to us the opportunity to nourish them spiritually as well - to introduce them to our dear Savior, the Bread of Life, who alone can satisfy the hungering soul. And that, my dear sisters, is what our kitchens are all about.


Feeding Others

Bless my little kitchen, Lord;
I love its every nook.
And bless me as I do my work,
Wash pots and pans and cook.

May the meals that I prepare
Be seasoned from above
With Your blessing and Your grace,
But most of all Your love.


As we partake of earthly food
The table You have spread,
We'll not forget to thank You, Lord
For all our daily bread.

Please bless my little kitchen, Lord
And those who enter here;
May they find Your joy and peace,
Through Christ the Savior dear.

For what I offer on each plate
Can only gratify
The temporary need one has -
T'will never satisfy.

But Jesus is the Bread of Life
It is the soul He feeds
He gives to every hungering heart
Himself, to meet the need.

"She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens." (Proverbs 31:15)

"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst". (John 6:35)

Posted by Sharon Kaufman

Christ in My Kitchen

Friday, September 17, 2010

Feminism and the Christian Woman

Concerning feminism's attempt to bring fulfillment and lasting happiness to women, Mary Kassian says it well in this video.

As a woman of more than sixty years now, I can remember (did I actually say that I can remember something?!) - yes, I remember - when the big push for feminism first made its case to women in the early 1970s. Even as woman who had not yet embraced Jesus Christ, I knew it was wrong.

Women began throwing off all restraints and boundaries -  bra burnings (bras were seen as an icon of restriction and conformity), bitterness toward men manifested outwardly, refusals to stay at home any longer with their children, resentment toward the traditional role of man leading and woman helping, a despising (that word is not at all too strong) of the menial work they did in the home (changing diapers, washing dishes, mopping floors), etc. This was an amazing time!


The only way I can explain the fact that I did not get caught up in this movement is the grace of God. He kept me from it. Later He saved me. But, the sad truth of the feminist movement is that most women, many of whom were my own college friends, were duped into believing something that was entirely false. They began to shape their worlds based on the lies of feminism. As a result, many women gave up marriage and/or motherhood or waited until it was too late to have children. Even some of the most outspoken feminists from that time have now issued statements about their own ruined, bereft lives and the insatiable longings for mothering that persist till this day - longings that can never be satisfied.

God created woman and gave her innate desires and gifts. The greatest of these inner longings is for Christ. Until she has a soul-deep relationship with Him, she will never find the fulfillment she yearns for in this life. When she does embrace Jesus, and when He, in His great compassion and love, becomes her Lord, rather than empowering a world gone crazy to have that authority over her, she will happily receive His gift of womanhood for her.

Enough from me. Watch this video. And here is a link to what I believe is the very best resource for Biblical womanhood on the internet - Nancy Leigh DeMoss.




Posted by Sharon Kaufman

Feminism and the Christian Woman